Remembered From A Dream
by Steampunkmagic
Summary: How I imagine the reunion between the Doctor and Clara could go. Clara mets a man in a graveyard who seems so familier but why?


Heart pounding Clara woke with a start. It took her a moment to recognize her surroundings. Sighing deeply she sat up. Glancing around her room with its faded pink walls, Clara knew she was safe. Slowly her heartbeat returned to normal.

"It was just a dream." she whispered. Already it was beginning to slip away. It had something to do with snowmen and an angel who lived on a cloud. Or was he a wizard? Clara had already forgotten, she could only remember that he'd been handsome. Like a dream guy was suppose to be, except this had been a nightmare. She died in the end.

Her roommate, who was into all that new age stuff, said that if you die in a dream it meant you were going to die in real life. Well that just sucks. Not that Clara put much stock in such things. 2012 came and went, and they were all still alive. That didn't stop the dream from being unnerving though. The feeling of falling was enough to freak anyone out.

Shaking off her unease Clara got dressed for the day. She had a job at the coffee house across from the university and today was double shifts. It was great for paying off her engineering degree, less great for her social life. Drinks with friends just wasn't on the menu. At least it gave her an excuse to make soufflés, which Clara was proud to say was the top selling item at 'The Coffee Corner'.

On her way to work Clara always cut through a tiny London graveyard. Andy, her roommate, thought it was creepy but she found it peaceful. All the graves were well over a hundred years old, so it wasn't like anyone was going to be laying flowers. There was a silence you couldn't find anywhere else in the city. When she stepped out of the overgrown grass, Clara was less than two blocks from her work. No ghost would keep her from that kind of shortcut. Not that she believed in ghosts anyway.

Several hours and many coffee orders later Clara hung up her apron.

"See you tomorrow Tim!" she called to the manager.

"Yeah see yah." he replied, a foolish grin splitting across his face.

Clara had that effect on most men. She was beautiful; all cream skin, delicate features, and chocolate hair and eyes. It also didn't help that she was a natural flirt. The guys in her engineering classes had refused to take her seriously because of it. That is until they realized Clara was smarter than the rest of them combined.

Clara sauntered out the door followed by the strong scent of coffee beans. Long ago she'd excepted that the smell would never come out of her hair. Clara considered herself lucky that at least it was the right color! Zipping up her blue jacket and putting in her earphones, she headed down the block.

Walking through the graveyard Clara hummed along with her music. She was about half-way across the grounds when she sensed movement behind her. Instinctively Clara spun around swinging her purse defensively.

"Oi! Oww!" cried a man's voice.

A young man in a tweed jacket and a bow tie stood before her. He was holding his nose where Clara's purse had struck him. Clara froze unsure if she should run or not. The man looked oddly familiar and he didn't seem very threatening. In fact, he just looked stunned. She couldn't help but grin at his bemused expression.

"What was that for?" he asked.

"You're the one who sunk up on _me_. You should just be thankful I didn't mace you." Clara said, unable to resist teasing him. He was quite good-looking once you got passed the professors' outfit.

"I didn't sneak up on you! I was standing here and you walked by." he said with a grin to match her own.

Clara couldn't believe it. She was standing in a cemetery flirting with a man she just met. This was right out of an opening scene of _'Law and Order: UK'_. The man made no move to come towards her though, he just stood there smiling pleasantly. He seemed genuinely happy to see her. This only intensified Clara's feeling that they had met before.

"Do I know you?" she asked.

His brow furrowed and he took a step closer peering down into Clara's eyes. "That, Clara, is an excellent question. _Do_ you know me?"

Clara gasped, "You know my name."

He didn't respond, waiting for her to answer his question. She searched his face trying to understand what was going on. Looking into his eyes memories came rushing back. The dream, the snowmen, the phone box, and the man. He was the same man; the angel who lived on a cloud. It was impossible he was a figment of her imagination! How could he be here?

"Doctor?" she whispered.

"You remember me." he said in amazement.

"How?" Clara reached up to touch his face. He felt real. "You were in my dream."

The Doctor laughed, smiling like a child on Christmas. "And what was this dream about?"

"You lived on a cloud in a box that was smaller on the outside. And I was a governess." she said, knowing it sounded crazy. Clara couldn't believe this was actually happening. Yet, she was sure she wasn't asleep or hallucinating.

"Do you trust me?" he asked, holding his hand out for hers.

And Clara did. She didn't know why but she trusted this impossible, strange man completely.

"Yes." said Clara taking his hand.

"Good, because it wasn't a dream." With that the Doctor started running pulling a laughing Clara along behind him. They darted across the rows of headstones and monuments until suddenly standing before them was the blue Police Box.

The Doctor gave Clara a cheeky grin before snapping his fingers and opening the doors. The inside was vast, full of metal instruments and flashing lights. Clara spun around in wonder. The science and engineering to build a ship like this was astounding.

"I think this belongs to you." the Doctor said.

Clara turned to see him holding out a small silver key. She knew it immediately, it was the key he had give to her in the dream. The Doctor pressed it into her palm and softly closed her fingers around the metal. He had tears in his eyes and Clara knew she did too.

"Why?" she asked.

"I never know why, I only know who."


End file.
